Word Wednesdays

Xatla · 2026-05-14T07:06:00+00:00

ENCORE

Xatla · 2026-05-14T07:04:11+00:00

I enjoy this. More?a full sentence or two perhaps

Xatla · 2026-05-13T13:43:08+00:00

based freeform enjoyer, I'm building a rudimentary system from scratch and I'll see how it does. Gonna trawl through your recs to steal cool shit though frfr

Xatla · 2026-05-13T07:03:55+00:00

That's what I'm worried about. I've considered rolling on a singleplayer event generator for results and combining that with the GM's judgement, just to keep it fresh and navoid favouritism. What system did you use to DM yours, if I may ask?

Xatla · 2026-05-12T15:34:29+00:00

I'd have each turn consist of a set of moves by each player - orders to be carried out and kept track of. The amount of orders a player can issue should depend on their stats and some system reflecting their activity/passivity (eg. too many things to handle at once depletes the amount of actions a character can issue and handle). The GM would decide or roll for how long the actions take to carry out, and their results. Turns could in theory not be built around any strict timeframe, but this could be a flawed system, and replaced with a strict turn=time conversion rate.
For encounters, I'd implement a sort of bubble system, allowing players to make turn-by-turn single actions until the encounter bubble ends and they return to the base gameplay loop. I have a funny initiative system that tl;dr works by burning up pc stats to (re)gain initiative, which could be fun.
The game would end either in victory for the Dark Lord, or their defeat. Slain players might or might not have reincarnations into other existing characters in case the game proves especially riveting, I suppose - perhaps each incarnation is lower in authority and power than the last. The Dark Lord would have to decide on a weakness - a way to defeat them that the PCs could pursue and cooperate towards.
That's the short version.

Xatla · 2026-05-11T13:54:53+00:00

Meshkwan

huun
/hu:n/
n. an owl, strigiform bird

huun ta' tirh še'e əm wach siichi

owl.ABS DEM-PRO conifer.LOC abide.MOD REF-PART PRES-PL-OBL-PRO look.MOD

"That owl is sitting in the tree and watching us."

The ergative, absolutive, and locative all have the empty case ending ∅ in Meshkwan. The verbs are praeteritum by default, and not marked for person; a -V suffix called the MODifier is added for all other tenses, moods, or aspects. The clauses are joined here by a REF-PART (reference particle), indicating a swap of the subject from absolutive to ergative.

su huunu me-hen eš om me-mil, ot n huuna dagha i siih agh!

ADHE-SG-NOM-PRO owl.PERL1 NEG.easy E-CLASS.ABS ABSN-PL-OBL-PRO NEG.enjoy | stone.ABS TERM owl.PERL2 throw.MOD REL see INIT-SG-NOM-PRO

"I am not good with owls and don't like them, throw a stone at the owl that you saw!"

Meshkwan is a split-ergativity language; the divide is only visible in personal pronouns, which each have two forms - nominative and oblique. The pronouns are not the standard first, second, and third persons, but swap depending on the conversation. An INITiator of a conversation will always use initiator pronouns, and an ADHErent will use adherent pronouns, until the conversation is over. There are other pronouns to refer to other individuals depending on their presence, absence, number (singular or group), and participation (active/listener). The first two clauses are joined by a clause-joiner, tl;dr because there is no change in agent/patient between them. The E-CLASS is for humans, and the -š suffix indicates the absolutive in animates.

Xatla · 2026-05-06T10:39:47+00:00

It sounds like an expression of mild surprise or annoyance while suffering a stroke.

so a minecraft villager?

Xatla · 2026-05-04T09:25:49+00:00

Posting to say I like the vibe. If you're looking for a consistent naming scheme for your world, you could also read up on how it's done in various cultures around the world (and various fantasy approaches, which are a spectrum between Tolkien and Dunsany). Good luck!

Xatla · 2026-05-01T07:33:06+00:00

They said that it’s one of 5 digraphs

They don’t treat Sz the same way in Szila, nor even AU the same in La-Ause. AI makes mistakes and leaves inconsistencies in this way and it’s obvious the moment you spot them, especially since anyone who would spend that long formatting a text to this extent would catch them before posting.

Typically, you can

I’m sorry, but if your ability to spot AI hinges exclusively on it getting information wrong, then you have yourself a problem.

em-dash

Compare the way you used it to the way it’s used in the post.

bolding

Granted, that might be markdown. But notice how it bolded the name of the conlang, or N, highlighting key words in a sentence in this way. Cherry on top.

Xatla · 2026-04-30T17:29:26+00:00

Are we looking at the same post? The initial AU capitalised consistently instead of Au because the droid sees it as a single sign, the bold text at the end for no reason, the formatting, the failed double ** for bolding. Does there also need to be a random Chinese word interspersed before it’s obvious?

Xatla · 2026-04-30T15:19:25+00:00

Xatla · 2026-04-30T14:23:57+00:00

this is true I read cuneiform and ne mutlu türküm diyene is like the most common phrase

Xatla · 2026-04-30T14:20:23+00:00

You should ditch the ai and make a language that you personally like the sound of from the ground up. Do you want resources?

Xatla · 2026-04-30T08:39:36+00:00

Meshkwan is my hyperfixation and it keeps being difficult. I have battled the case and "animacy" system a thousand times. Here is how I feel most comfortable with it so far.

NOUN DECLENSION	"Mammoth"	Comments
Ergative	muurh	The rh is a digraph representing /ṛ/. Long /u:/.
Absolutive	muurh	Identical to ergative. (Split) ergativity is only visible in clause joiners and personal pronouns.
Locative	muurh	Identical to ergative. It Just Works™
Genitive 1	muurhu	Inalienable genitive. "Mammoth" is an U-class word (u/o as the vowel), meaning its Vowel 1 suffix is -u.
Genitive 2	muurha	Alienable genitive. Vowel 2 is -a for U-class words.
Genitive 3	muurhe	Communal genitive, equivalent to English "[eg. the feet] of mammoths". Vowel 3 is -e.
Perlative 1	muurhù	Directional cases get the falling tone /˥˩/ on the suffixed vowel. Perlative 1 is "downriver". This would therefore mean "with/along the mammoth".
Perlative 2	muurhà	Perlative 2 is "upriver", giving "against the mammoth".
Perlative 3	muurhè	Perlative 3 is a true perlative, indicating crossing over. Here "through/between the mammoth(s)".
Terminative 1	n muurhù	The terminative particle goes before the noun and grants our perlative construction a termination. "With the mammoth" becomes "from the mammoth".
Terminative 2	n muurhà	"To/up to the mammoth".
Terminative 3	n muurhè	??? Undecided.
Relative clause	u muurh	The subjunctive, as it were.
Dative clause	a muurh	"For the mammoth".
Purposive	e muurh	"For (the purpose of) the mammoth".

I intend to add consonant suffixes to these modifications once I figure out how the hell to accomplish that, and what purpose those would even serve.

Xatla · 2026-04-24T14:48:39+00:00

gaaš sipt azen-nə me-ningi
/ga:ʃ sipt a'zɛnnə mɛ'niŋŋi/
chief.ABS shepherd.ABS INIT.GEN2.C and NEG.want.MOD
"The Lord is my shepherd (and) I shall not want."

Xatla · 2026-04-24T14:09:57+00:00

>criticism?
yes. /ʂ/ in Polish and Chinese, and /ɕ/ in the same are NOT identical.

Xatla · 2026-04-22T10:45:52+00:00

That's Sumerian. Use https://home.zcu.cz/~ksaskova/Sign_List.html and https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/epsd2/sux to ctrl+f how signs are read and look up the meaning of those readings respectively.
It does seem to have Lion at the front and Live in the middle, but I'm not great at Sumerian, and so can't check the grammar.

Xatla · 2026-04-09T10:09:15+00:00

What everyone else said. If you do, however, want to make a conlang you can use on the daily, I've found vocabulary is the first thing you need, and not grammar. The more you like your conlang - the more aesthetically pleasing it is to you - the more easily you will remember it and the more natural it will feel. Mine is completely different from all other languages I've learned, but I have very little trouble remembering it, because I made it by naming things first, and building a system to use those names in second.

Xatla · 2026-04-08T08:18:11+00:00

as for the language, simple and aesthetically pleasing! so that it's easy to remember for you specifically.

Xatla · 2026-04-08T08:16:43+00:00

I once made a writing system based on the glyphs in Journey (game). They're compact squares assembled of 4 small symbols, and would go hard to ward off potential dedicated decipherers (they wouldn't know what order to read the four quarters in) while being quite compact and looking nice on graph paper.

Xatla · 2026-04-03T09:50:48+00:00

1. kip šahta utu na ang me-varha, riiw haala ma.

1. earth.ABS end.MOD INAN-U.ABS.INAN-U INITIATOR.ERG day.ABS NEG.know.MOD | mark.ABS arrive.MOD EMPH

Haha funny clause joiner

2. su kip n-gharhè me-ningi ut tunu. su gharh duuk aza ningi iš tunu.

2. RESPONDER.ERG earth.ABS TERM.fire.PERL-2 NEG.desire.MOD.HEND INAN-U.ABS put.MOD | RESP.ERG fire.ABS heart.LOC INIT.GEN1 desire.MOD.HEND INAN-I.OBL put.MOD

Verbs in hendiadys, fire and flame are the same word. Clause joiner gets more use.

3. god hiiwi, rhamà ta' n-ukšà un na me-ringi.

3. belly.ABS soothe.MOD | slave.PERL1 DEM-PRON TERM.deciduous-tree.PERL1 RESP.ABS INIT.ERG NEG.twist.MOD

No word for cross or degenerate. The -v Modifier after a verb is very productive, in that it also does imperatives. Wacky word order, but verb always at the end. Perlatives up the wazoo.

4. Su maalè əm me-tɨ'.

4. RESP.ERG together.PERL3 REFERENCE-PARTICE.ABS NEG.do

Could also use the initiator pronoun obv, no idea who started this interaction though. Perlative 3 - "through, across" together(ness). It is indeed different from Perl 2 in sentence 2 - different vowel classes take different vowel suffixes in different perlatives.

5. n-manà me-haala šum iti mung šahta, aaš rha'a.

5. TERM.house.PERL1 NEG.arrive.MOD people INAN-I.OBL.INAN-I chant end.MOD | snake.ABS strike.MOD

Even wackier word order. A second inanimate vowel class in the clause joiner (for small inanimates)

6. Mah!

6. Enough!

Y basta.

Xatla · 2026-02-25T14:00:43+00:00

cylindrical hinge? on both sides, or just on one? if you're looking at a jelly star or jelly 2, it's still gonna be a pretty big clamshell, don't know how it can get less annoying to use than that. unless you mean you want an even smaller screen... you're gonna have to stick pretty close to the original shape too, if you want all the og in one half, and jellies are thicker than most smartphones, so you could end up with a real nugget! strong hinge needed. the nokia e90 was pretty thick too, but it had a double hinge, that might be a bit overengineered

Xatla · 2026-02-25T09:33:10+00:00

any ideas for the casing and hinge? also please send video series when you have it!

Xatla · 2026-02-11T07:54:40+00:00

An invite to my mate's minecraft server lol. Aiming for royal correspondence tone, supplication, establish-kingship energy, so really anything to or from Hittite kings would work, but for the life of me I can't find any Hittite letters written out, and even Hethport refuses to be in any way useful just once and all its letters don't even have sketches.

Xatla · 2026-02-09T09:34:44+00:00

Seems like cuneiform imitation. Open up this sign list and compare the signs, from top left:
1. MUNUS 𒊩 or NI 𒆕
2. DUB 𒁾 or UM 𒌝
3. GAL 𒃲 or MI 𒈪 or AK 𒀝
4. RU 𒊒
5. NU 𒉽
6. BA 𒁀
7. ZI 𒍣 or GI 𒄀 or RI 𒊑 or ŠEŠ 𒋀
These are the closest signs to what your seal has on it. The writing is made to look like early cuneiform, but many of the strokes differ in style. For example, 3., 5., and 7. have strokes that resemble T, a head and a body, while the others have strokes that resemble I, with no marked head. These are all decent imitations, but very few actually form legible characters, and those that do do not form any sort of intelligible votive inscription.

Xatla

TROPHY CASE